


Almost Good

by Bovaque



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst, M/M, Moving In Together, Post-Graduation, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26303596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bovaque/pseuds/Bovaque
Summary: After highschool graduation, Eddie decides to move in with Stan. Stan decides what he really wants.Quote: He would walk down track 4 heading east until he got tired, and the weeds growing up between the crossties made him sad
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Stanley Uris
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Almost Good

"And as we make our ways into the world, we will endeavor to change and right the injustices we see."

An air of boredom bore oppressively down in the stuffy auditorium. Eddie Cochran was up on the stage giving an exquisitely bland speech to an equally bored audience. Beside Stan, Eddie Kaspbrak was silently fuming over the injustice of losing out valedictorian to Cochran. 

"This is so not fair, Stan," Eddie was slumped slightly in his chair, pouting with his arms crossed," this is so fucking unfair."

"Jesus, dude, you need to let it go already. It's not that big of a deal." 

"I _was_ over it. It's his fucking speech that's making me upset again. Jesus, Stan, I had a beautiful speech prepared. Pure fucking poetry. It would've made Bill give up his stupid dreams of being a writer and I certainly wouldn't be up there quoting Dr. Suess," he paused to huff," so unfair."

Both the Eddies had a perfect 4.0 GPA so the principal had decided that the person with the least amount of absences would be given the speech. Kaspbrak never stood a chance, his mother had seen to that.

Another hour passed before the graduating class of '02 came bursting through the school doors. Eddie and Stan joined up with the other members of the Losers Club in tossing their academics hats in the air, stomping on them when they hit the ground, and flipping off the school.

"Good riddance Derry High, may we never walk your desecrated halls again," proclaimed Richie.

Beverly gave a triumphant cry that turned into loud laughter," Good riddance, au revoir, ciao, auf wiedersehen, FUCK OFF!"

"J-J-Jesus Beverly, there are still parents around," said Bill.

"I know, I don't care," she pulled a cigarette out of her robe and lit it," it's not like we're gonna be seeing these people anymore. Thank God."

"It's actually kinda sad if you think about it," said Mike," just think about all the people around us that we'll probably never see again." He gestured around him.

"Yeah, it'll be a darn shame not to see Mrs. Kaspbrak's beautiful face every day."

"Fuck you, Richie," said Eddie, he pushed the laughing idiot away," stop talking about my mom." 

"Whatever, you'll learn some respect when I'm your father one day."

"Oh god Richie, too much, just stop," laughed Stan. 

"Yeah Richie, beep beep," said Mike.

"H-hey, did you get the cookies for the party tonight," Bill asked Mike.

"Yeah, I'll be bringing a whole platter of all sorts of assorted sugar cookies."

"And I'll be bringing the good stuff," said Richie," the hard stuff."

"Sure you are," replied Bev.

A car horn alerted them to Stan's parent's presence. 

"Well, I'll see you guys at the party," Stan picked up the crushed academic hat and brushed it off.

The other Losers said their goodbyes as Stan plopped in the backseat of his parent's old sedan. He craned his neck to watch his Ben, Bev, Bill, Mike, Richie, and Eddie fade away in the distance. The smile slowly disappeared from his face as he turned around and sighed.

"You didn't tell them yet, did you, dear," asked his mother.

Stan turned to stare out the window at the moving landscape," No, I didn't."

"And you're sure you don't want to talk about it with us," asked his father.

"No," Stan said. _Definitely not_ , he thought.

"Son, I wish you could talk to me, to us, about this," his mother said.

"It's just," Stan paused for a moment, thinking of how to proceed," really complicated." 

Stan's dad looked at him through the rearview mirror," Whenever you feel like it, we're here for you Stan."

At home, Stan felt like he could finally breathe. He changed out of his graduation get up and filled the bath to the brim and had himself a long, hot bath. _The perfect place to be alone with my thoughts_.

 _I'm such a fucking coward_ , he thought as he washed the shampoo out of his curls.

 _I need just to tell them_ , he thought as he put on a white button-down shirt and blue jeans. He grabbed the small picture frame off his desk and left his room.

 _I need to tell him_ , he thought as he got in his car and backed out of the driveway of his weathered childhood home. 

In a desperate, fruitless attempt to keep from being alone with his thoughts, Stan turned on the radio as he drove to the Kaspbrak house but he found no refuge in Shania Twain's crooning.

He couldn't exactly remember when this crushing infatuation had started, but he knew how terrified it made him. 

He halted the car as he pulled up to Eddie's house. _Deep breaths_. He collected himself and his thoughts before exiting his car and closing the rusted door as quietly as he could.

He made his way past the front of the house and went to the side of the house where Eddie's room was. Stan found the dangling piece of thin string that hung to the ground from the window in the second story and gave it a few tugs. It was attached to a bell in Eddie's room and was his way of seeing visitors without having his mother know.

A few moments passed before Stan heard the window open up, slowly as not to creak.

"Stan, catch it so it doesn't hit the side of the house," came Eddie's loud whispering.

"Ok," said Stan as he lifted his hands," I'm ready."

The fire ladder Eddie had bought with the money he'd got from sunburning himself mowing lawns came cascading down his window. Stan caught it before it could make any noise and held it steady for Eddie.

He watched as Eddie pushed his scrawny body out of his window and climbed down halfway before leaping off and landing triumphantly on his sneakered feet.

"Bravo," Stan gave a tiny clap.

"Whatever," smirked Eddie. He pulled out a tiny brown paper bag from his pocket and opened it and gave a quick look inside before closing it.

"So what did you bring for Ben's thing," asked Stan.

"You'll find out when it's time, Stan, there supposed to be a surprise," Eddie said with a sly smile on his face as he got in the passenger side of the old faded blue car and rolled the window down.

They were out 2 minutes before Eddie turned on the radio and began singing along with some girl who kept asking why things were so complicated. 

He kept stealing small glimpses of Eddie, every few seconds. Eddie, his head hanging out of the window, his short gray-streaked brown hair pushed back by the wind, singing pop lyrics to the audience of passing sheep grazing in the twilight fields.

Seeing him happy made Stan smile, a soft one filled with quiet, tentative happiness. The smile soured and turned into panic when he realized he was doing it. _Focus on the road, dumbass_ , he thought as they drove past the old weed overgrown track 4 crossties that Stan, in his more alienated moments, used to walk down until he got tired.

"Ugh, that song is so good," said Eddie," I love Avril Lavigne, do you like her?"

"I mean, it's not my kind of music but she has a nice voice."

"I need to lend you her album when it comes out next month."

"Yeah, sure, that sounds fun," Stan tried to sound interested.

"Okay Stan, it's okay. I know you like all that lovey-dovey country music," Eddie said as Stan pulled off to the side of the road.

Twilight was giving into the evening when they entered the area surrounding the wooded area around the Barrens. Stan parked the car in the little gravel parking spot and Eddie pulled the floodlight out from under the car seat. 

"There's Beverly's truck," Eddie pointed at a small rusted pickup."

"Yeah, and there's Mike's and Bill's. I guess Richie got a ride too."

They trumped their way through dead leaves and dry twigs of the woods until the lights and noise from the clubhouse made itself apparent. 

The heat from the growing summer faded into the cool underground of the clubhouse as Stan and Eddie made their way past the notches in the doorframe. 

Inside was bustling with the chaotic energy that seemed to follow them when they got together. Bill, over with Ben installing a shelf by the back wall while Beverly and Mike were dancing violently to a Starting Line song blasting from Beverly's radio. Richie came crashing their way from a beanbag chair sloshing his drink from the red solo cup unto the ground

"Guess who finally made it to the party guys," slurred Richie, sufficiently trashed on old Prosecco he'd brought from his parent's house.

"Hi guys, you wanna party over here with Mike and me," asked Beverly.

"No time for that," said Bill," let's do Ben's thing first, get lit after."

They all moved closer to where Ben was. Stan had to duck his head so the hanging string lights didn't get in his hair.

"Seeing as this is the last few days when we'll all be together, I've made this," he gestured to the shelf behind him.

Upon closer inspection, Stan could see how ornately crafted the shelf was. What wood it was made from was unsure, but it was stained a dark golden brown. It had short walls on both sides of it but was about five feet in length. The walls, interestingly, had a scene burned into both sides.

"Is that…," began Mike.

"Yeah," Ben put a picture frame in the right side corner," summer '86. When we all met. The other side has all our names on it."   
  
"Ben, it's...so beautiful. How did you get that much detail on our faces," asked Beverly.

Ben was blushing," It took a lot of my time in woodshop," he said with a smile, scratching his head," so yeah, I thought why not put stuff here so when we ever come back here we'd have a sorta time capsule."

"Wow," Stan said," that's a great idea." He went up and put his own picture labeled "September 1992". It showed all of them bundled up in coats, snow whirling among them.

They each in turn and placed their special thing on the shelf. 

"Oh," exclaimed Bill," there all...picture frames." The shelf was a bit crowded with the assorted frames and assorted pictures of the group at various times

"Yeah, I thought we'd have a bit more variety," said Ben

"Well, in our defense," began Richie," you did tell us to 'bring something that reminds us of us'."

"No, no Ben it's fine," said Bill," let's just enjoy the night and the party."

"Yeah, it's really lovely Ben," said Beverly.

"Can't wait for us to revisit this sometime," said Stan.

"Alright, enough mushy platitudes, let's PARTAY," exclaimed Richie, he grabbed his red solo cup, emptied it, and crushed it against his head.

With that bit of theatrics, they soon began to disperse from the corner and Stan wound up at the dessert table with Bill.

"It's nice to just sit back and watch others have fun, isn't it," Bill asked as he munched on a frosted cookie.

"God yes, I'm so tired all the time. It's good to know others are having a good time."

"When are you and Eddie moving in, is it next Monday." 

"Sunday, actually, then we begin looking for apartments," the move was something that he was anticipating, probably not as much as Eddie was.

"Got a job yet?"

Stan sighed," Not yet, I've applied to a couple of other places including the theater but no responses yet."

"Does M-Mrs. Kaspbrak know about you guy's plans," asked Bill.

"Nope," Stan smiled," she's gonna flip when her little baby flies the nest. It'll be great."

"Good luck to you, man, good luck."

"Thanks," Stan said. _Although, luck would have little to do with it._

It was well past midnight when the party had finally died out and everyone made their goodbyes. The mood for partying stopped when Richie had blacked out in the middle of raging to a Dream Theater song. So with Beverly and Bill dragging Richie to Beverly's car, Stan and Eddie made their trek through the woods back to Stan's car.

"God, I'm starving," Eddie said as he closed the door," how about you?"

"You didn't eat anything?!"

"No man, there was nothing but sugar and empty calories there. Oh and all that Prosecco."

"Well, I guess Finnigan's Diner is still open, we could go there," Stan said, after some thought," they're open 24/7."

"You know you don't have to if you're too tir-," began Eddie. He pushed back his hair as he said it.

"No, no, it's fine, I'm fine with it. I need some time to unwind anyway. I'm gonna be up all night if I don't."

"Are you sure, please don't trouble yourself on my account, Stan," Eddie said.

"Eddie, it's fine. Trust me," Stan said as he put the car back on the road towards Derry," you need to eat something."

Finnigan's wasn't a particularly special place in Derry, nor particularly clean but what it lacked in cleanliness, it was made up with perfectly mediocre hamburgers and breakfast foods. Some middle-aged hostess named Agnes was in the midst of talking with the cook when the little bell on the door announced their arrival.

She looked quietly miffed by their presence as she led them to a corner booth that was illuminated by harsh iridescent light where she left them, taking her attitude and their drink orders with her.

"God, the party was so good, poor Richie though, couldn't hold his Prosecco," Eddie made himself comfortable in the booth.

"He's in good hands," Stan replied.

"Yeah, Beverly's. If he was conscious he'd probably cream himself from embarrassment."

Stan laughed," I'm probably gonna feel like shit in the morning, and not from the alcohol."

"Ugh, same," Eddie slouched over and looked out the window at the darkness," can't believe we'll be the only ones left here."

"Well, Mike said he'd be back sometime next year."

"I'm so jealous, I wish I had a grandma who lived in France. Sounds like a fucking dream."

"Well, you'll be moving out soon too."

"Thank God, Stan, I'm so freaking excited," Eddie exclaimed then looked embarrassed when Agnes came by and dropped off their glasses of water.

"Have you decided what you want to eat yet," she asked. 

"Yes, I'll have a hamburger, well done, with…green beans for the side. Does the burger come with onions," asked Eddie.

"Yes, sir."

"Then please hold off on them," he folded his menu and handed it to her.

"And what will you have," she asked Stan.

"I'm... I'm not hungry," Stan stammered. He handed her his menu and she left.

"Stan," said Eddie," you should eat something."

"Eddie, I ate so much stuff at the party I feel like I'll hurl if I eat anything else." 

"You need to have something solid on your stomach, Stan," Eddie said," a burger will help with your hangover in the morning, too."

Stan scoffed," I didn't even drink that much, besides, it's Prosecco."

"It's still alcohol, and it would help to eat regardless." 

"Alright! God, there's just no stopping you when you get going, is there," asked Stan.

"Sorry, I just know better than you," Eddie said, smirking, before taking a sip from his straw.

Agnes came back with Eddie's food and Eddie cut off a section of his hamburger and put in on a napkin.

"Eat up."

Stan grabbed it and nibbled on it throughout, while he and Eddie greeted the early dawn light seeping in through the windows of the diner. It was around 5 when Stan went up to the cash register and paid for their food while Eddie went to the car and warmed it up. 

"There's nothing good on the radio this early, just old country music and talk shows," Eddie complained when Stan shut the driver's door.

"Good, it's too early for your type of music," Stan said as he pulled into the road to Eddie's house.

"Not my fault you have boring taste in music," Eddie laid his head against the window.

"What do you think your mom's gonna do when you get home?"

"Bitch, probably. I'm not too worried," he rubbed his eyes and yawned," I'll probably deal with it in the morning."

"It _is_ morning, Eddie," Stan said.

"Later in the morning then, afternoon maybe, whatever. It's fine," he said. He paused for a moment when Stan pulled to a stop in front of the Kaspbrak house," fuck, I can't wait to leave this place, forever."

With the sun peaking through the passenger side window, Eddie was bathed in sunlight. From his eyelashes to his short, wavy hair with little gray streaks that drove Eddie mad, to the short stubble on his face.

 _God, he's just so pretty_.

"Welp, thanks for the food buddy," Eddie got out of the car.

"Hey! Eddie…"

Eddie stopped and turned around, the rising sun acting as his halo.

"Yeah?"

 _Fuck_.

"Uh…see you Sunday," Stan said, quickly. 

"Yeah, see you around Stan the Man," Eddie finger gunned and left to climb back into his window.

As soon as he was out of sight, Stan groaned in frustration as he turned the ignition and drove away.

On the short drive back to his house, he berated himself mentally at what a coward he was.

When he got home, no one was awake thankfully. Calmly, he went inside and made his way to his bedroom and got undressed and collapsed in his bed and buried himself in his comforter. He would've burst into tears if he wasn't so spent from the party.

One of his last thoughts before he drifted to sleep was the word that had been following him all day.

 _Coward_.

**Author's Note:**

> How'd you like it? Love it? Hate it? What would you rate it? Let me know how bad I did in the comments below


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